Newington firm awarded Product of the Year

A local police officer demos the Wilcox Hybrid Patriot 5510 which is a new high tech respirator which won the New Hampshire High Tech Council Product of the Year during the at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford on Thursday. (THOMAS ROY/UNION LEADER)

BEDFORD — A life-support device designed to protect those looking to help others was awarded the top recognition at this year’s Product of the Year ceremony.

Wilcox, a Newington-based tactical product manufacturing company, was chosen as winner at this year’s New Hampshire High Tech Council’s annual event Thursday at the Manchester Country Club.

The Scott Hybrid Patriot 5510 is a backpack respirator system that offers life support for military and first responders. The latest iteration of the product adds Bluetooth communication technology that monitors location and air levels, and reduced weight of 10 pounds.

The company unveiled the product this year, revamping a design that had been developed after Sept. 11, 2001 to allow emergency responders to collect evidence and rescues those in need.

“We’re very grateful to be the finalist and win,” said Jim Teetzel, CEO of Wilcox. “We’ve got a great team. It’s really the team that makes it come together and have it happen.”

The other finalists were:

• The Contender post-op elbow brace, a medical device for use by patients following reconstruction surgery. It’s made by Corflex of Manchester, which designs, manufactures and distributes more than 400 orthopedic rehabilitation products, that was founded more than three decades ago.

• The RollerMouse Free3, an ergonomic computer workstations that features the company’s flagship RollerMouse, a rollerbar mechanism that replaces the traditional computer mouse. It’s made by Contour Designs, a Windham company founded in 1995.

• The JMA-165 accelerometer, a sensor used for rail applications that provides feedback on the performance and control of passenger trains. It’s made by Jewell Instruments, a Manchester company founded in 1950. They design and manufacture sensors, meters, testing equipment and other products for various industries, including avionics, transportation, military and medical.

• The LinkAlign-60EBP is a power-over-ethernet antenna positioner designed for use with microwave line of sight systems. It allows users to remotely maintain their systems rather than deploy tower crews. It’s made by NextMove Technologies, a Milford-based company founded in 2008.

A sixth finalist — Orion Entrance Control Systems, a 7-year-old company based in Laconia — dropped out of the competition because it was unable to attend the event. The company created the Optical Barrier Swing Glass-Wave, a turnstile system for use in government buildings, corporate offices and other areas where secure admission is a requirement. The system uses touchless fingerprint scanning to let one person per second through the turnstile.

The finalists were chosen out a group of 20 applicants. Since this summer, judges have been working with the applicants and award points to the finalists based on three criteria: the product had to be new, developed in New Hampshire and fall into a category of a high tech product.

Audience members also vote on which product they found the most impressive. Based on those two totals, the winner is chosen.

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